A picture of a shockingly thin underwear model used to advertise lingerie has been banned because it could encourage young girls to copy her.

The advert featured just the lower half of the woman's body wearing a pair of briefs on clothing chain Urban Outfitter's lingerie section.

One internet shopper complained to the the Advertising Standards Authority saying the model in the picture "was unhealthily thin" and the ad was irresponsible and harmful.

But the American manufacturer argued the model came from "one of the UK's most successful and well-respected agencies."

It "did not believe she was underweight" and "stated that her waist size was 23.5 inches, and provided documentation from outerwear brands showing they provided clothing for that waist size.

"They added that it was common practice to use slim models in the underwear industry, but they did not consider that the model was underweight or unhealthily thin; they considered she had a naturally tall and slim physique."

Shocking: The model in the advert was branded 'unhealthily skinny'

The Advertising Standards Authority disagreed and ruled it breached rules on responsible advertising.

It "considered that the model was very thin, and noted, in particular, that there was a significant gap between the model's thighs, and that her thighs and knees were a similar width.

"We considered that the model looked underweight in the picture.

"We understood that Urban Outfitters' target market was young people and considered that using a noticeably underweight model was likely to impress upon that audience that the image was representative of the people who might wear Urban Outfitters' clothing, and as being something to aspire to.

"We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible.

"The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told the advertisers to ensure that the images in their ads were responsibly prepared."